


Chance Encounter

by Writer_Geekgirl



Category: Supernatural
Genre: 4.01 Lazarus Rising
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-07
Packaged: 2019-01-30 15:12:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12656037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Writer_Geekgirl/pseuds/Writer_Geekgirl
Summary: Sam Winchester and Jimmy Novak have a chance encounter on the night before Castiel gripped Dean Winchester tight and raised him from perdition.





	Chance Encounter

September 17, 2008

A dark-haired man in a tan trench coat sat at the bar counter, nursing a beer. He looked dejected and out of sorts. He didn’t look at the tall man with brown shaggy hair that came in the bar and sat next to him. 

The blonde bartender asked the taller man what he wanted to drink. 

“Whiskey, neat,” the man replied. He pushed his hair out of his eyes. 

The bartender poured him his drink and then leaned over the bar. “My name is Sheila. You look a bit down. Part of the service I offer here is bartender therapy. If you have a problem, I’m happy to listen.”

“Name is Sam. I’m good. Just tired.”

Sheila smiled. “If you change your mind, let me know.”

The man in the trench coat lifted his now-empty beer bottle in the air with a sad smile. His blue eyes shined brightly in the neon lights from behind the bar. Sheila brought him another beer. “Same goes for you, blue eyes. You have a problem, I’m here to listen.”

“I don’t have a problem. I just am ungrateful.” He gave her a sad smile. “I have a wonderful wife and daughter at home, but my job is getting me down. It’s like I know I should have a greater purpose than being an ad salesman for AM radio. I feel like I’m meant for more, but I don’t know what that is. I should just be happy with what I have.”

“Well, blue eyes. If we don’t yearn for more than we what we have, you’ll never have dreams or imagination. Me, I want to be a singer someday. So, I audition and I practice. Someday, I might catch a break. But for now, I’m just the best bartender I can be. Doesn’t stop me from wanting more.”

Sam signaled for another drink. The bartender paused her conversation and went to make him the drink. She looked at him. “You know, I’ve seen happier faces on the wanted posters at the post office.”

Sam managed a small smile. “Just having a hard time lately. I lost my brother a few months back. We were really close. I’ve been hanging out a lot with someone since then, but sometimes I wonder if I’m doing the right thing, you know? I try to see how my brother would see things and I don’t think he’d like what I’m doing, but it works. I feel like I’m helping people, but I know my brother would disapprove.”

“You can’t live your life based on getting someone’s approval. You have to do what you think is right,” Sheila smiled at him. “Trust your instincts on what is right for you.”

Sam gave a short laugh, “I wish someone had told Dean that. He spent his life trying to get my dad’s approval; I spent mine running away from It. We just always wanted different things. Now, both my Dad and Dean are gone, and I wish I hadn’t run so long and so hard.”

Sheila smiled at him sadly, “We all live with regrets. I argued with my dad the day before he died of a heart attack. My last words to him were ‘I hate you.’ I’ve wished so many times I could take them back.”

Sam looked up at her, with a sheen of tears in his eyes. “Why can’t we just appreciate people while they are here more.” Sam stood up to go to the restroom.

Sheila walked over to a couple who had just come up to the bar. She took their order and mixed their drinks. She walked back over to the blue-eyed man.

“You need anything else, sugar?”

“Name is Jimmy. No, I’m good. I just heard what you said to that young man. Now, I feel more ungrateful that I’m not satisfied with what I have. I no longer have my parents, but I have Amelia and I have Claire. They should be more than enough. But I feel God has this greater purpose for me.”

“Just because our loss is more immediate doesn’t diminish yours, Jimmy. And wanting something more in no way diminishes your love for your wife and daughter. Part of the human experience is to wonder what lies just behind the mountains or around a river bend. It’s why we put a man on the moon, why sailors crossed the sea when they didn’t know if they’d find land, it’s why we explore. It’s okay to want more than what you have, as long as you don’t lose sight of what you have.”

Jimmy smiled at her, “Thank you. I’ll take one more beer before I head out.”

“Coming right up, Jimmy.”

As Sheila got Jimmy’s beer, Sam returned to the barstool next to him. He remained oblivious to the people around him. He leaned his elbows on the bar, and rested his chin on his hands. After Sheila gave Jimmy his beer, she turned back to Sam.

“Another for you?”

“I’ll just go for a beer this time. Whatever draft you have on tap is fine.”

Sheila poured him his beer and placed it on the bar.

“You ever get tired of listening to people’s problems?” Sam asked.

“No, I like to help people in my own way. I’m not curing cancer or making some great invention, but if I can put one person in a better mood than when they came in, I consider it a good day. If everyone made someone else’s day a little better, it would have a ripple effect across the world.”

Sam smiled at her. “I wish I could have your attitude. I used to be the happy optimistic one. Then, I realized that I was a pawn in a game I didn’t understand. I still don’t understand it. But I do try to help people.” He shrugged.

“Sam, I don’t know you, but maybe you are being too hard on yourself and should cut yourself some slack. I mean, you just lost your brother. Maybe you should take some time before making some hard decisions. Life isn’t a race to see who gets to the finish line first. Life is a journey of individual moments. Enjoy those moments.”

Jimmy signaled her. “Excuse me a moment, Sam,” Sheila said.

Jimmy smiled at her, “I’m ready to pay my tab out.” He pulled out a twenty. “Keep the change. I heard what you said to him. I will trust in God’s plan and make sure that I make that journey.”

Sheila smiled, “Keep the faith, Jimmy.”

Jimmy walked out the entrance into the night, as a brunette woman walked through the entrance into the bar.

She sat on the barstool vacated by Jimmy. “So, Sam, you ready for some more practice?”

Sam shrugged. “I guess so. Are you sure this is the right thing, Ruby?”

“You know it is, Sam. We’re helping people. We’re making a difference.”

Sam pulled some bills out of his wallet and left them next to his half-drank beer. Sheila smiled at him in farewell and gave him a small wave.

Sam and Ruby left the bar and entered the darkness of the night.

A few hours later, Anna Milton heard voices in her head, “Dean Winchester is saved.” Castiel had gripped Dean Winchester tight and raised him from perdition.


End file.
